Other royals putting Air Miles Andy to shame

Prince Andrew has come under renewed fire as his refusal to use public transport was sharply exposed by the record of other royals.

While the likes of the Princess Royal and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester regularly take the train or scheduled flights, the Prince almost always refuses.

Last year, he didn't make a single rail journey - and took just one commercial flight, costing more than £2,500.

Princess Anne, meanwhile, made 69 journeys last year each costing less than £2,500 and 32 of them were by train or scheduled flight.

The figures are revealed in a National Audit Office report which highlights Andrew's extravagant use of taxpayers' money.

Buckingham Palace claims the report has "totally exonerated the Duke of York from inappropriate use of public funds".

But last night their words were looking increasingly threadbare.

While he has not breached any rules, he was accused of stretching them to breaking point in spending £325,000 in just one year hiring aircraft to travel to golf matches and other junkets.

The report, by Comptroller and Auditor General Sir John Bourn, states: "For shorter journeys costing up to £2,500, the Duke of York did not use either scheduled flights or rail services for any engagement.

"By comparison, other members of the Royal Family used scheduled flights or rail journeys more often."

Prince Edward and his wife Sophie are frequent rail passengers, using the train for around one in four of their journeys.

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester used trains and scheduled flights for half of their journeys costing less than £2,500.

The hollowness of claims that Andrew's Scottish golf club reimbursed his travel expenses are also exposed in the report.

Regular RAF flights

In fact, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, where the Prince was captain for a year, reimbursed no more than a quarter of his flight costs.

Rail travel was always ruled out. Instead, it cost £32,000 for the RAF to fly Andrew to Scotland and back regularly. The report shows that Andrew - dubbed 'Air Miles Andy' - thinks nothing of hiring a helicopter or a plane for the shortest journey.

He once took an RAF jet, at an estimated cost of £4,645, instead of a £254 commercial flight so he could play 18 holes in Scotland and hurry back to London, even though his next official engagement was four days away.

In June 2003, he refused to take a train, at £97, for a 50-mile trip to have lunch with Arab dignitaries. Instead, he insisted on a chartered helicopter at a cost of £3,000.

Andrew's excuse for avoiding the train was that rail services were 'unreliable' and that, whatever happened, the extra journey time of oneanda-half hours was unacceptable.

Andrew could now face being banned from using taxpayers' money on his transport to golf matches and other events.

"In the meantime, he should start using public transport," said Labour MP Iain Davidson, member of the powerful Public Accounts Committee which is scrutinising the figures.

The Government could withhold grants if it believes public money is being wasted.

Last night, Mr Davidson added everything should be done to hold Prince Andrew to account. He said: "We will be meeting with the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee to discuss whether Andrew has been guilty of malpractice.

"There seems to be no reason why he can't take public transport like other royals.

"There's no doubt that the rules have been stretched - we just have to work out how far they have been stretched. It's a hugely important issue."